"The Grand Canyon takes your breath away like no other wonder in the world," says Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, who recently completed a two-week road trip through the American Southwest with his family. But even though the canyon itself is protected as a national park, the U.S. Forest Service has decided to allow uranium mining in the Kaibab National Forest just south of the park, threatening sacred lands and water supplies of the local Havasupai people with radioactive contamination.

Sierra Club activists from around the country convened in Washington, D.C., the last week of June to participate in Great Outdoors America Week 2013 and remind their elected leaders how important it is to enjoy and protect our public lands. Outings leaders, veterans, teachers, and youth took part in lobby visits, trainings, and other events; Interior Secretary Sally Jewell spent an afternoon with local kids on the national mall; and Sierra Club Youth Ambassador Nolan Gould sent an action alert supporting the Community Parks Revitalization Act.

It's July, and the high country in the Sierra Nevada -- John Muir's "Range of Light" -- is shedding its snow and beckoning backpackers. It may be sweltering in the lowlands, but it's springtime in the High Sierra.

Trek from ancient groves of giant sequoia to lofty and remote Triple Divide Peak on the border of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Explore deep granite canyons and sparkling lakes in Pioneer Basin in the John Muir Wilderness. Or if you're looking for something a little gentler, try a beginner's backpacking ramble in the lightly traveled Emigrant Wilderness.

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The Best Foods for Your Pet

Sure, your food is organic, local, antibiotic-free, GMO-free, and hormone-free, but what about your pet's dinner? We recommend four eco-brands to keep Fido and Fluffy happy and healthy. Plus, these dog and cat chows will shrink your pet's environmental pawprint. Want to make your own animal treats? We've got a recipe for that, too.

Indiana Living Green -- a statewide print and online publication -- has named the Sierra Club's Indiana Beyond Coal campaign the "Best Eco-Movement" in the state.

The July issue of the magazine features a young Beyond Coal activist on its cover, an article spotlighting local Sierra Club organizers Jodi Perras and Megan Anderson, and a slideshow of a recent Indiana Beyond Coal rally that drew over 150 people.

Word on the street in D.C is that the nomination of Gina McCarthy as EPA Administrator will come to the Senate floor this week. The cornerstone of President Obama's climate plan is a new set of EPA safeguards against climate-disrupting carbon emissions from coal plants. The best way to make sure those protections are put into place quickly is to make sure the EPA is fully staffed and ready to get to work. Gina McCarthy has been on the front lines of our most critical public health battles, and she has proven that she has what it takes to stand up for clean air, safe water, and public health.

A presidential Climate Action Plan that doubles down on clean energy cannot also continue our reliance on natural gas. President Obama is proposing that we increase fracking to replace coal and that we ship liquefied natural gas overseas. But more drilling and fracking for natural gas is a recipe for climate disaster.

Trees are one of our strongest defenses against climate disruption, but they are rapidly disappearing worldwide, due in large part to illegal logging and trade in illegally cut timber. In some countries, as much as 90 percent of all logging is done illegally.

A U.S. law, the Lacey Act, helps curb illegal logging, and therefore climate disruption, and creates jobs in the U.S. forest products industry by eliminating illegal, unfair trading. But some members of Congress are trying to weaken the law.